United
States History Connects An Interactive Online United States History Course
Beginning April 17, 2006

United States
History Connects, an interactive online course for Virginia teachers, will be
offered this spring as a recertification course only.This class supports the Standards of Learning for teaching United
States History to 1877, United States History: 1877 to the Present; and
Virginia and United States History.The
class is free for Virginia teachers who wish to earn up to 45 license renewal
points.

The class
will be offered on the Internet at http://historyconnects.pwnet.org/
and is supported with a CD-ROM.Registration may be completed online at that website.Teachers may register from March 6 to March
24, 2006, and the class starts April 17, 2006.The course ends May 26, 2006.Enrollment will be limited to the first 50 teachers who sign up for
license renewal points.

The goals of
the course are as follows:

connecting the events of 20th
Century United States history to past events;

analyzing what it means to be an
American;

connecting economic, political,
and social evolutions; and

providing lesson plans, resources,
and links for classroom teachers.

The course
consists of five components, each of which is expected to take approximately
five hours.Each component includes
activities, resource links, a discussion board, and quizzes.The CD-ROM contains videos that explain the
subject matter being discussed.Teachers will find many ideas, resources, and links that will assist
them in the classroom.

The course
includes the following five topics:

Part I:Why Study United
States History?;

Part II: What is an American?;

Part III:The Evolution of Revolution;

Part IV: Individualism and Community; and

Part V: The United States and the World.

U.S. History Connects is a self-paced course for Virginia
teachers facilitated by Betsy Barton and Dr. Beverly Thurston, history and
social science specialists for the Virginia Department of Education.This course is delivered by CD-ROM and over
the Internet with video segments featuring Dr. Carolyn J. Lawes, Professor of
History at Old Dominion University.

For more
information, please contact Beverly Thurston, Beverly.Thurston@doe.virginia.gov,
coordinator, history and social science, Office of Middle and High School
Instruction, at (804) 225-2893.